Wake Me Up When September Ends
by StarElement242
Summary: This is sort of in the Marching Band category and sort of isn't. I couldn't find anywhere else to put it. it's about a girl that just lost her parents, and is in the middle of a conspiracy. I suck at Summaries. Rated for scarce language


**Hello, people! I am a new writer. I am not good. Hehe! I insult myself a lot. This story is not a song fic, i just got the idea after listening to the song. Some of the story is based off of true events, but i'd rather not say which ones. It is short, and some of it is confusing, and it is not good!! If you don't like bad writing, turn away now. If you don't give a crap, i welcome you! - **

**-StarElement242-**

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**Prologue**

Delainey Roberts. She worked at the Aspen Park Drug Store with him, talked to him about anything and everything, was like a sister to him, and still, he didn't know where she lived or who her parents were. She avoided that subject like it was a mud puddle that she could not afford to step in. When she left that day, he watched her tromp slowly down the highway, like she did every single day of the week.

* * *

Fourteen years old. Only fourteen. But, I guess tragedy doesn't exactly stop to inspect your personal information when it storms into your life. That's what I would learn in the next few days. Not that I hadn't already.

Grandpa. Uncle Wilbur. Uncle Rob. All of them killed under suspicious circumstances. I couldn't see the connection just yet, so I assumed there wasn't one.

The foothills weren't very hard to describe. Every house was at least a half-mile apart, separated by pine trees, grass, sagebrush, and other plant-life. It was honestly almost exactly like living in a cabin in the woods. Except these weren't cabins. They were houses. I myself lived in one of these cabin-like houses perched on a small hill in the middle of a group of skyscraping mountains. It was peaceful, except when motorcyclists rode on by seeming to make as much noise as they possibly could, just to see my disabled, old father run screaming after them, telling them to shut off their engines.

My mum and dad were in their fifties, solely because they had waited a very long time to get married and have kids. When I was eight, we moved to a small little town called Conifer, nestled in the foothills of Colorado.

You really couldn't do anything in Conifer until you had a license to drive. Then you were free. Until then, your parents took you everywhere. If you had older siblings, fine. If you didn't…you were like me.

The high school was huge in the eyes of the townspeople, with at least 1000 kids. It was conifer's pride and joy, with a winning football team and marching band, and just about every other sport. Most everyone was in great shape. I was a freshman who played the flute in marching band. I was ugly. I was pencil thin. And I was just about the happiest person alive.

Marching band practice was every day except Wednesday. That was today! I took the bus home. I walked up the hill our cute, comfy little home was perched on. I trudged up the steps. I opened the door. I flashed back down the steps. I never came back.

* * *

Story

"That'll be $3.78 ma'am."

I flashed a big smile at the squat lady in front of me, and she merely shrugged, snapped her purse open and handed me the money. I took it from her, keeping the smile on my face, and gave her the change.

"Than you, and come again!" I said brightly. She nodded and shuffled penguin-like out of the store, grabbing her candy bar on the way.

"Well, wasn't she nice," said a sarcastic voice from the back of the store.

"Oh, Bryan, she was probably just having a bad day."

"I know you always try to find the best in people Delainey, but that woman was a witch. With a 'B'. I tried to ask her if she needed help and she looked at me like _I_ needed help."

"Ah, come on! She wasn't that bad!"

"You didn't have to ask her any questions, so she didn't have to talk to you. Gosh was her voice disgusting. What has she been smoking?!"

"Bryan! Don't accuse people like that!" Bryan stepped up to the white counter, leaning towards me, his dark mahogany hair brushed to the side of his face. He smelled like pine-scented air-fresheners, which he had just stacked neatly in the back of the store. His nose was almost touching mine.

"I will if I want to."

That self-centered attitude was something I had gotten used to being around Bryan all the time. we both worked in the Aspen Park Drug Store after school, both from 4:00-6:00 every day and all day on weekends. Not that it was really work. We had way too much fun together for it to be work.

"Hey you kids! Stop flirting and get back to work!" someone yelled from the back of the store.

"Antonio!" Bryan and I screamed in unison. Antonio was our boss, the manager of the store, and as his name suggested, Mexican. He was also Bryan's second cousin, which is how he got me the job underage in the first place. Then, like always, we both burst out laughing. I could hear Antonio's hearty chuckle from the back. We both knew he was joking: he did at least three times a day, six on weekends. We also never thought anything of it; we knew we were like brother and sister. Bryan took his giant hand and ruffled my hair, stepping back to his post at the house-ware section. I stuck my tongue out and smoothed my auburn hair back down.

"Hey!" Antonio shouted from the back of the store. "It's Q'doba Wednesday! You guys better get going!" I looked up from my homework. I managed to squeeze in homework when there was nothing to do around the store.

"It's only 5:45!" I shouted back. "We still have fifteen minutes left!"

"I'll fill in for the rest!" Antonio answered, emerging from the bookshelves at the back of the store and taking off his working gloves. He always tended to the gardens and did other manual labor around the store. He scratched the side of his head, a habit of his that he'd had since childhood. He scratched his head when he was pleased.

"You've done a great job today. I can take it from here."

"Gracias, Antonio!" I said, smiling. Bryan untied his store apron and laid it on the counter, grabbing my hand.

"Let's go!" he exclaimed, as he dragged me out of the store.

"De Nada!"

Every Wednesday, Bryan would treat me to Q'doba, my favorite place to eat. We both made the same amount of money, but his parents paid for everything, so he had extra. I told him my parents were teaching me responsibility, and left it at that.

A five minute walk lay between Aspen Park Drug and Q'doba. It was like nothing to Bryan and I. We could turn hours into minutes by just having fun. He was a year older that I was, but he was still a freshman; I was just younger than the average freshman, and he older. We had known each other for five years, which doesn't seem like much, but we had grown very close.

"You got any time this weekend?" Bryan asked as we walked in the restaurant together. "We could catch a movie." When I started to open my mouth, Bryan read my mind and added, "On me."

"Thanks man," I replied, smiling. "What do you have in mind?"

"What else?"

"The new football movie?"

"A duh!"

"As long as you don't start yelling at the referee in the movie this time."

"Hey, man, that referee was just stupid!"

"He was acting!"

"Exactly! Acting stupid!"

"You're the one that's acting stupid."

"Ouch Della, that hurt." He called me Della most of the time. He was the only one. To everyone else, I was Delainey.

"Yeah, I know it did."

"So, pick you up from your house? My mum can drive."

"Um, why can't she just pick us up from work?" I said quickly.

"Oh. Forgot about that."

"Yeah. Nice job."

I finished stuffing down dinner and began to walk one way, while Bryan walked to his mom's car waiting for him. He leaned in the window for a second, then wheeled around and dashed after me.

"Della!" I turned and cocked my eyebrow. "Can I crash at you house tonight? It's gonna be boring at my place."

"Um…I'm kind of sleeping at my friend's house tonight. Sorry Bryan." I put on an apologetic face.

"I'll never forgive you." Bryan scowled menacingly.

"Thanks, Bryan!" I called as he ran back to his mom's car. I began to walk away again, and this time only go about five steps before a navy blue mini van drove up alongside me. Bryan hung his head out the window.

"D'ya at least want a ride?" Bryan asked wistfully.

"Nope, I'm fine!" I answered beaming.

"Della, you need to tell me soon what's going on, or I'm going to find out myself." Bryan rolled up the window, staring at me as the mini van drove away. I wanted to tell him. I really did. But I had made a promise to myself never to let anyone feel sorry for me, because I had the greatest life of anyone.

"Hey Mom! Hi Dad! I'm home!" I laughed, dropping my backpack to the ground. I leaned against a tree to catch my breath, then slid down it and unzipped my backpack.

Two weeks. That's how long I had been living on my own. It really wasn't that bad. I had friends, I wasn't starving, and I was getting top-notch grades. Sure, it was freezing at night with nothing but a sleeping bag, but I was doing okay. I'd had enough extra money so far to buy two extra sets of clothes, so that I didn't look like I wore the same thing day after day. I had been way too frightened to gather up any clothes when I ran from the house. I showered in the girls locker-room at school once everyone had left, and bought dinner and such from the cafés and restaurants in various places around the school.

There was a small wooded area right next to the school that was perfect for living in. I had access to the school, the highway, and everything around them, which was pretty much everything in Conifer. Did I mention it was a small town? The best part about the little clearing, though, was that nobody could see me. There were houses with vicious dogs on either side, so no one dared approach unless they were hikers coming from the back, and they didn't really care. No one had noticed me yet! -

I took the engraved picture frame holding my parents' picture in my hands, and softly brushed the dust off. They were gone, but not from my heart.

My wristwatch conveniently came with an alarm clock that could wake me up early enough for breakfast. Once I was at school, I was finally safe from being discovered, so it was the best time of day for me. Not that good times ever last.

Thinking about Bryan always made me feel better. He understood everything about me, even if he didn't _know_ everything about me. I was a little bit worried, though. His popularity at school had peaked lately. What if he forgot all about me? His arrogance could certainly lead him to do so. For now, all I could do was to be myself.

Breakfast time! I decided to treat myself this morning and order a bagel from the coffee shop, but it turned out to be a mistake. It made me five minutes late for school! I walked into science just as the teacher began to lecture the class for the day. "Must be nice to sleep in," he mumbled, pointing me to my seat. I grinned and plopped down, dropping by backpack to the floor. My friend Kelley was already taking notes on the lecture for the day. As inconspicuously as she could, Kelley slid me her notebook so I could copy what she had written. I mouthed a thank you to her and began to write. Like all lectures, the science lecture was long and boring, and when lunchtime came, I was bursting with happiness to be out of the suffocating classroom. Walking down the halls towards the lunchroom, I spotted Bryan and rushed over to him.

"Hey, Bryan," I exclaimed, smiling. "You coming to work today? I heard you say something last week about—,"

"Yeah, Delainey. I said I was going to a party tonight! So, sorry I can't make it." Bryan shrugged his shoulders. "Hey, why don't you come?"

"Oh, that's okay. I don't really like parties."

"I know Della, but it could be fun!" Someone with jet-black hair and icy-blue eyes walked up behind Bryan.

"Don't waste your time." The guy had a chilling voice, like he was cutting a knife through the air. "She probably has to ask her mommy first."

Now, don't get me wrong. I've endured plenty of comments and insults like this one. But after what happened, this one hit me harder than the rest. I miraculously managed to force smile, considering how I felt inside, and walked away, disappearing in the crowd. I probably would have been fine, if I hadn't heard another comment from Bryan. It was like an afterthought, something that meant nothing to him.

"That's a good one."

I didn't cry. I did, however, trip and fall right in the middle of the hallway out of sheer surprise. I scrambled to my feet right away, blushing like crazy, and high-tailed it out of there and to the cafeteria. Yeah, I know. Smooth, right?

Panting, I sat down on a rock outside, retrieving my lunchbox from my backpack. I had thought of the cafeteria, but had decided against it. There were too many people there. The rocks outside were a place I could think. Unfortunately, that wasn't an option, since my thoughts were interrupted as soon as they had started.

"Della!" It was Bryan. He skidded up beside me and sat down. "You have no idea how hilarious that was!" I smiled.

"Yeah! Hilarious."

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing!"

"Della, don't give me that. I'd know your fake smile anywhere. It means something's wrong."

"Bryan."

"Yeah?" I took a deep breath.

"There's something I'm not telling you."

"Yeah? What is it?" I breathed again. Was I really ready to tell him? No.

"It's nothing."

"Huh? Della, you just said it was something."

"I know. Never mind what I said. It's nothing."

"Whatever you say." Bryan checked his watch. "I have to go. My friends are waiting. Hey, see you tomorrow, kay?"

"Kay." He jumped up and walked away. I wished he wouldn't. I needed someone to talk to about it. The rest of the day went by in a blur. When I finally got on the bus, I was surprised to see my friend there.

"Leah? I thought you had volleyball practice."

"Yeah, it got canceled," she explained as I sat down in the seat across from her. "Hey, I heard about what happened in the hallway today. That was great. Did you just, like, trip randomly?"

"Yeah. I did." I was surprised at the tone of my voice. It was wavering a bit and filled with sadness. Bryan must have affected me more deeply than I'd realized.

"Hey, wait a second. Why aren't you in marching band?"

"Oh, that? I quit."

"What! And why am I just hearing about this now?!"

"You never really seemed to care that much about it."

"Hey, you going to homecoming?"

"Wha?"

That was just about the brightest I'd ever been in my life. I forgot about homecoming. Leah filled me in on everything, and I listened intently. In the end, I decided to go with all my friends. Going with a guy would be too much hassle.

Tomorrow evening. That was Homecoming. Most freshmen wouldn't bother to dress up, but my friends and me liked to be crazy. We all bought dresses. Mine was a long, frilly silver dress that made me look even taller than I already was, so to avoid being a giant, I wore sandals instead of high heels. Homecoming was a blast, hanging out with my friends, eating everything in sight. The committee had decorated the gym with a huge sea dragon on the wall, multicolored lights, confetti everywhere, and paper on the floor. We had the most fun of our entire lives. Then, it happened.

I was going over to get some punch. I was halfway through filling my cup, when I heard about six or seven guys burst out with laughter. Everyone turned to look. The guys were standing in a circle. I recognized them as the popular guys Bryan had started to hang out with lately. Then, I saw Bryan. He was standing in the middle of the circle, looking stunned and mortified, a swinging light above him. He walked slowly to the doors of the gym and disappeared out of them, the guys still laughing in his wake. I wondered what was going on, and decided to follow him.

"Bryan?" The hallway was almost deserted, except for the few wallflowers left in the commons. He turned around, halfway to the door leading outside. He had an extremely hopeful look on his face, but it dissolved when he saw me.

"I thought you were…never mind," he muttered, heading for the doors again. I followed him outside, and sat next to him on the same rocks we sat on yesterday, when I had almost revealed my secret.

"Punch?" I offered him the half-filled plastic cup. He glanced at it, then looked away.

"You want to tell me what's wrong?" He shook his head slowly, staring intently at the ground. Then, he looked up at me. He laid his head on my shoulder, closing his eyes tightly. I didn't flinch, although I sincerely wanted too. It was obvious something was hurting him, and I couldn't pull away - not now.

"Why doesn't she like me?" Bryan said to no one in particular, but I knew he wanted my answer.

"You mean Haley?" Haley was a girl Bryan had fancied since grade school, and he was getting to like her more and more.

"I asked her to dance, and she slapped me," Bryan said, almost choking on his words. "She doesn't even know me that well. Why'd she slap me?"

"You want me to ask her? We're not friends, but we know each other."

"Not tonight." I knew he meant yes. He just didn't want to be embarrassed. "This means the end of my popularity, though."

"What?"

"My popularity. Apparently some guys thought I was good looking, so they tried hooking me up with girls. It got me popular. I know you've noticed, Della. You avoid my eyes whenever I'm around them."

"I'm sor—,"

"Don't be sorry. I know how you feel about popularity. You won't have to worry about it anymore. It's over."

"You know, Bryan, it doesn't take people like that to be popular."

"Well, tell me what it takes. You're pretty popular."

"One, I'm not popular. Two, I'm myself. Not someone else. Apparently people like that nowadays."

"Thanks for sticking with me."

"Any time." I could see Bryan thinking about my words, considering them, and in the end, accepting them. He knew I was right, in my own way.

I shivered slightly, causing Bryan to lift his head. "You cold?"

"It _is_ September. Should we go back in?" He thought for a second, then shook his head.

"Sorry, Della. I'm not going back in there."

"I understand." I shivered again.

"You can go in and get my coat to wear, but I'm not going in." Thank you. I did as he said, and came outside to find him standing and waiting.

"It's not doing any good just sitting here, you know," I informed him, putting my arm in the sleeve of his jacket.

"I agree. Aspen Perk?" He waited until I had the coat on all the way. I nodded happily.

Aspen Perk was a small coffeehouse just down the road from the elementary, middle, and high schools, which were all clustered in the same general area. In middle school, Bryan and I had both been working for the school newspaper. After meetings, we would walk down to Aspen Perk to get a snack and wait for our parents. We always sat on the same green couch with the granite and glass table in front of it.

As I walked with him, I avoided the topic of the dance carefully, talking about all the things I knew made him happy. Food, football, food, cars, food, boxing, and food were just a few examples. I smiled and talked as much as I could, because I knew he wasn't exactly in the mood to do either of them. By the time we made it to the café, he was feeling considerably happier.

When we got to the counter, he ordered and iced mocha latte, and I ordered hot chocolate.

"Honestly Della, you should just give coffee a try. It's not that bad!"

"You say. Besides, Bryan, you know my answer to that. I've told you a thousand times."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, it's—." I chimed in with him. "Not if you paid me, kissed me, and made me pancakes for breakfast."

"Hey," Bryan said after he finished laughing. "What's up with you lately?"

I almost told him. I really did. Then, I caught myself. "If you think you can catch me off guard and get me to tell you that way you're sorely mistaken, Mister Bryan Maple." I loved his last name. It reminded me of pancakes, which If you didn't catch, I looove!!

"It was worth a try." He shrugged. I stared him down. He stared right back. I turned away scared.

"I knew you couldn't do it!" Bryan laughed. "You've always been afraid of people staring at you!"

"Well, I'm working on it!" He laughed again. We sat down and drank, laughing and talking at the same time. Bryan almost choked once because he was laughing so hard. Then, the highlight of the night came when a waiter stepped over, dressed in a green apron, and asked if the couple would like anything else. We looked behind us, where there was a window. We looked to the right: a door. We looked to the left: empty chairs and tables. We looked at each other: confused looks. We looked at the waiter and observed him waiting expectantly. Then, when we looked back at each other, we got it. We cracked up.

When Bryan's mom came, the fun ended, and the tact began. I had to make up excuses when Bryan asked me if I wanted a ride home. I had made up a story about my family moving a few days ago, and added to it today. I said that I hadn't exactly figured out how to get there yet, and that we would be driving forever. My mom was supposedly coming to pick me up. When they finally sped away down the highway, I breathed easy and walked back to my place in the woods.

It snowed that night.

I woke up the next day to find that my hands had gone completely numb overnight. They were an odd bluish color, and when I tried to move my fingers, I found it was impossible. I had to use my teeth to zip zippers and my elbows to pack homework in my backpack. It was extremely difficult, but in the end, I managed it with fifteen minutes to spare. I looked at my hands again, and knew I still couldn't go to school – yet. People would notice, and they would ask, maybe even investigate. I couldn't let that happen. My hands would be better by the end of the day, but until they were, I had to wear gloves. Luckily, I had anticipated snow and bought some, but I had forgotten to wear them last night.

When I got to school and somehow managed to buy breakfast there, I realized just how hard getting through the day without the use of my hands would be. I had to eat my bagel with my knees and forearms. When people saw me doing this, they scoffed and laughed. I imagined the sight must be pretty funny. I would wonder why I wasn't eating with my hands if I were they. Then, Haley walked by, and everything went horribly wrong.

She only looked at me, barely even glanced. But during that glance, I read the look on her face loud and clear. She thought I was a total _freak_. Her platinum blonde hair swished behind her as she strutted on by with her perfect legs, perfect everything, including a picture-perfect face.

Later that day in English, the teacher had us write an essay. Yeah. Well, what's a girl gonna do with practically no hands? I had to take the pencil in my mouth to try and write that way. When the teacher noticed this, she walked with a sense of doom over to my desk.

"Something wrong with your hands?" she asked sternly. I looked up with a guilty smile. The pencil dropped out of my mouth.

"In fact, yes," I replied. "They don't feel very good today, so I thought I'd write with my mouth. You know, use my head! Isn't that what teachers tell us to do?" The whole class was watching me now. The teacher clicked her tongue impatiently. "Besides, have you ever tried pencils? They taste good!" The class giggled. Even the teacher was trying not to smile. She shook her head and left it alone, pacing back to her desk. I had the same problem in math class, only Haley was in that class. I could feel her burning glare on the back of my head, tilted sideways making the pencil move.

Lunch was a sorry affair, with me trying to eat with my knees and forearms again, all of my friends laughing and interrogating me. They accepted the fact that I just wanted to eat that was, which is of course what I told them. Then, Bryan came up to me, dragging me away from the lunch table and pinning me against a wall. It took a second for me to process what was happening.

"Roberts, what did you do?" Uh-oh. He called me 'Roberts.' That wasn't a good sign.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you know what Haley just said to me?" I shook my head. It wasn't good to speak a lot when Bryan was mad. It just annoyed him. "I summoned up the courage to ask her why she slapped me. These were her exact words. 'I think it's just because you're too weird. It's no wonder, hanging around that girl…Delainey? Yeah, her. Have you seen that way she eats?' Then, she walked off. I repeat, what did you do?" I shook my head again.

"I don't know. I haven't talked to her."

"She said something about the way you ate. Know anything about that?" I gulped.

"No." Yes.

"Really?"

"Yes." No.

"Delainey, I just want the truth." I gulped again. Bryan could tell something was wrong. "Okay, show me the way you eat." My eyes opened wide as he let me down from the wall. My knees nearly buckled underneath me, but I held fast. I had to think quickly. I had thought my hands would feel better by now, but they only got worse and worse. I felt like I was being led to a guillotine, my head just waiting to be chopped off. When I got to the table, I pondered how to pull this off. In the end, I figured out that there was no other way. I'd have to be truthful.

I took my sandwich in between my forearms and took a bite, lowering the rest onto my knees. Bryan observed the pattern with horror.

"No wonder…" He shook his head, like he was trying to shake off a fly. I felt like I was the fly. "Delainey, why are you eating like that?"

"Cause I want to."

"Can you please eat normally when Haley is around?"

"Sure." I waited for Bryan to leave, but he didn't.

"Well?"

"Well what?" I asked.

"I want to see you eat normally."

"I can't."

"Why the hell not?!" Bryan was yelling again. He looked at my gloves. "Take those gloves off, Delainey, it's not that cold in here." I looked down at my cotton, insulated black gloves as Bryan reached for one. He had his hand on my left glove.

"Bryan, wait!" Too late. The glove slid cleanly off my hand. Everyone gasped, including me. They hadn't just gotten worse-they'd gotten deathly terrifying.

The skin had a grayish tinge, and it looked like the blood underneath had stopped flowing all together. Overall, my hand looked like it had been chopped off, without the bloodstains.

"WHAT THE HELL!" Bryan had shouted it extremely loud, drawing looks from the cafeteria. Everything went silent. He stared in awe and bewilderment at my hand for a few seconds, then removed the other glove. The result was the same. Bryan looked from my hands to my face a couple times, then gripped my arm.

"Bryan! What—,"

"Don't ask, just come." Bryan was determined, dragging me from my seat out of the cafeteria. I picked up on whispers and curious looks on the way out. Haley was sitting nearby. She looked horrified.

"Honey, I need you to tell me what happened." The nurse had kind face, but she was prying to deep. I wouldn't tell her.

"I told you already. I slipped and fell on ice."

"That's not enough to cause frostbite."

"What?!" I looked over at Bryan, who had stumbled from the corner he was standing in when he heard the nurse. I was surprised, too. This was the first time the nurse had mentioned frostbite.

"September is a cold month," the nurse said glumly, golden curls bouncing with her head. "But you could only get this kind of case if you slept outside or something." The nurse busied herself with filling a pan full of steaming water. She set it on my lap. "This may hurt," she warned, and placed by hands in the pan. It didn't hurt at first, but once my hands began to thaw, the pain was excruciating. I bit my lip in attempt to divert the pain, but all it did was to make my lip bleed.

I felt something warm against my side and looked over. Bryan had sat down beside me, gazing into my eyes.

"What happened." It was a demand. Blood trickled down my chin, and the nurse went to get a napkin. When she'd cleaned up my chin, I looked up at Bryan, who was almost a head taller than me, which made him very intimidating.

"Nothing," I lied, gritting my teeth.

"Is this about the something you haven't been telling me? What is it Della? Did your parents kick you out or something?" I shook my head, begging my eyes not to water. Bryan gripped my shoulders, forcing me to look at him. I tried, I really did, but it was just too hard. The thought of _him_ feeling sorry for _me_ was just too much to bear. He had a past too. It may have even been more tragic than mine.

Then, a thought occurred to me. What if I died? I'd regretted not dying along with my parents for a while. Well, what if I died now? I wouldn't feel guilty, I wouldn't feel pain, I wouldn't feel anything. It was perfect.

"Bryan?"

"Della."

"Can you kill me?"

"WHAT!!" Bryan shouted furiously. He had been suspicious, but this wasn't just something that someone decided off of nothing. "What are you talking about?!!?!!"

"Can you kill me?" I repeated, smiling at him. "I wouldn't feel emotion anymore. No guilt. No pain. It'd be pure bliss. I want to die." It was funny. After losing someone, there really is an instant where you think about it. Death. What if you just died? I thought about it. It seemed so…great. Nothing. Nothing but darkness.

Bryan didn't answer, but the hug he gave me next was proof enough of his answer. He wouldn't let me go like that. When he pulled away, I only looked at him, an emotionless void in my eyes. I smiled sadly.

"I have nothing left to live for." I had him.

"You have me." Bulls-eye.

Wow. What had I just thought?

I stood up quickly, stretched, and shook my head like a dog. I turned around to face confused looks blaring my way.

"I'm sorry," I said, a true smile returning to my face. "I don't know what I was saying."

"Delainey, tell me. Now I know something's wrong." Oh boy. What had I gotten myself into this time? "I don't like being kept in the dark like this."

"Nothing's wrong."

For the next week, Bryan wasn't himself at all.

The next morning, when we had study hall together, he sat at his desk. Literally. He just sat at his desk and didn't do a thing. The guy with a long nose and boyish features behind him looked up once. He prodded Bryan once to see if he'd react. When he didn't, the guy began to wonder if he was breathing. He got up, went around to face Bryan, and prodded him in the face.

"Could you please stop that?" Bryan murmured incoherently. They boy ran back to his seat.

Later that week, when I tried talking to Bryan, he was speaking in a monotone voice, with measly one-word answers to my countless questions. Have you ever spoken to someone who gives one-word answers? My gosh, it's hard!

By the end of the week, it seemed that the only effect I had on him by being around him was depression, as he had stopped saying things all together. I knew because of a free period on Friday, when I tried one last time to get him to talk. It didn't work. He vaguely listened to me talk about school and what was going on in my life. Yet, when one of his friends came over to us, he sprang from the floor and started talking rapidly, like he had been saving his voice from me especially for this friend. I was surprised, but it truthfully hurt. A lot. He used to be my best friend. Now what?

That night, when I laid down on my sleeping bag, I looked around at the fallen snow twinkling in the moonlight. It was very peaceful. I gazed over at my picture frame, and noticed something I hadn't before. There was something stuffed in the frame along with the picture. Then, for just a vague moment, my eyes were blinded be a camera flash. When they returned to normal, I glanced around. Nothing. I went to sleep in constant fear that someone was watching me.

The urge to tell someone was growing stronger. I could barely hold back. Then, the next day, Haley approached me. I had completely forgotten about the picture frame until I saw her. For some reason, it jogged my memory. Somehow, it was hard to like Haley for me. She had judged me just because of how I ate. Who did that?

"I'm sorry!" she blurted out before I could say anything. I blinked, stunned. She saw my face and laughed. "I heard about what happened to your hands," she explained. "I feel so bad for judging you like that. I also heard that you won't tell anyone how they got like that. You can tell me, you know. I've never gossiped before in my life." I somehow trusted her, but it just wasn't enough to tell her everything.

"Sorry, I just can't." I shook my head, hair swishing back and fourth. "Thank you for apologizing, though. It means a lot to me." Haley sighed at first, then smiled. "Hey, can I ask you a question?"

"Fire away."

"What do you think someone would hide in a picture frame?" Haley cocked an eyebrow.

"I don't know," she laughed, shaking her head. "But I'll be keeping my eye on you, you're not gonna get off that easily!" With that, she turned on her heel and stalked off. I stared after her, thoroughly confused. All of a sudden, she was nice? Wow, this world was weird.

My next class was in the temps outside, and as I walked out there, a chill ran right down my spine. I glanced around, and spied two guys along the side of the school. Something wasn't right, though. Everyone was streaming past them like no one knew who they were – and no one cared. Their eyes were fixed on something, but I couldn't see what. Then, as the crowd parted, I realized. Me.

I began to walk very quickly in the direction of my class, and when the guys noticed, they stood strait up, striding through the crowd. Both were dressed like regular high school kids, but I could tell that neither one was. I began to panic and started walking faster. It was a fruitless attempt, though. They caught up to me.

In the blink of an eye, they had me trapped. One clamped his hand over my mouth and held me in a headlock, while the other stood in front, blocking any vision from other kids. The kids that did see probably thought it was some sort of joke. It'd be easy to think so; my kidnappers were smiling broadly.

I hadn't taken taekwondo for nothing.

With technique, training, and precision, I knocked the guy restraining me off balance and slipped out from under his grasp. Then, I screamed. No, I'm not lying thank you very much. I just started screaming right in the middle of the sidewalk. Heads turned in my direction. Everyone thought I was crazy, until the two guys started up again in attempted kidnap. One brought out a gun.

That's when the chaos really started.

As people began to realize what was going on, screams erupted throughout the school. People ran for their lives, not really caring what happened to me. I was still struggling against the guy who had once again taken hold of me and was attempting to drag me away, masked by the disaster his cohort was making with his gun. I tried to scream, but my scream just blended in with everyone else's. The guy holding me once again clamped his hand over my mouth, but I retaliated and bit his hand. I must have been really scared, because I tasted blood. The guy drew back, cursing loudly. I used the chance to escape.

I ran through the screaming mob of people, down the concrete path, and across the parking lot. I'd barely gotten to the grassy hill when I ran smack into someone. I looked up. It was Bryan. Screaming students ran past us, as he looked into my eyes, his filled with worry.

"Bryan!" I cried.

"What's going on?" I glanced over my shoulder, and grabbed his hand.

"C'mon Bryan, we have to move! He'll find me!" I said urgently.

"Who's he?"

"_He_ is dangerous! We have to hide!" I glanced back again.

"Dangerous, am I?" a cold, monotone voice said. I swiveled around and tightened my grip on Bryan's hand. He was standing right in front of me. The man shook his head, laughing faintly. "All I want is the design. I know you have it."

"What design?" My head was reeling. What could he possibly mean?

"Don't give me that. I'm not an idiot."

A second later, he was on the ground, at the mercy of Bryan's fist. "You sure look like one," Bryan said. "Now tell me what business you have with her, now!" His voice was scarier than I'd ever hear it before, or even imagined it could be.

"The engine," the man croaked. "I just want the designs to the engine." I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. Well, I did, but it hadn't quite clicked yet.

"What engine?" I asked.

"I'll give you a hint, bitch. The one we took care of your parents to get." I stopped breathing for a second. I think my heart may have skipped a beat. Then it was over, and the only thing I felt was rage.

My chest rapidly rose and fell as I tried to control what I knew was growing inside me. It was useless.

I leapt at the guy, kicking, punching, scratching, and biting whatever I could get my hands on. He was taken by surprise, and soon completely overwhelmed. I had no idea what I was doing, but I knew one thing: I wanted to cause this man as much pain as I possibly could. I wanted him to suffer a fate worse than death, I wanted him to be tortured.

I don't know how long or how hard I fought that man and tried to cause him pain, but the next thing I knew, two strong arms were pulling me off his limp body. I could hear sirens in the background, people screaming. It was all so confusing. I just wanted silence, but it didn't come.

"Hello? Miss?" I heard a voice say. I heard the words, but they didn't exactly process in my muddled brain. My vision was fuzzy.

When my eyes finally focused, I gazed at a cop in a blue suit with a thick beard. Somewhere between the time I lost and regained control of my rage, it started raining. I was completely drenched. The school nurse came up behind me and draped a wool blanket around my shoulders. The rain obscured my vision, but I could see flashing lights in the distance. I stopped trying to see eventually and just let my eyes make whatever they wanted of the scene. The lights stretched, the flashes of lightning distorted the picture. My eyes were playing tricks on me, making the scene that faced me look like my picture frame that held my last memory of my parents…

If there were ever a bigger light bulb that went off in someone's head than the one that just went off in mine, then Bryan would wear the color purple to school.

"Hey, Miss Roberts!" the nurse cried out after me, as I ran at top speed down the road. It must have been the fastest I'd ever run in my life. The police didn't even have a chance to stop me. I bolted all the way to my campsite. I unfortunately did not notice the man in one of the police cars staring at me as I ran.

My picture frame was ornate, intricately decorated, and now soaking wet. I didn't give a care. With steady hands, I removed the picture of my parents for the frame and discovered exactly what I was looking for.

The engine.

Well, of course it wasn't a real engine. You didn't really think an entire car engine could fit inside a picture frame, did you? If you did, I feel so sorry for you. No, it seems my parents had passed the legacy on to me, stashing the engine's design inside the one picture frame they knew I loved more than anything.

About two years ago, my grandfather started an idea. My uncles just began to develop it. Soon, more of my family began to get involved, including my parents. A perpetual motion car engine. It didn't require gas or oil, just motion.

Being mechanically retarded as I was, I didn't understand a bit of it. All I understood was that it could help save the world when we ran out of oil and natural gas. First, my grandfather was killed. Then, Uncle Wilbur. Uncle Rob was when someone somewhere made a mistake. He managed to get out the message that there were people watching his house before he was found dead on the floor. This is where I made the connection. My parents were next in line to continue the engine development. Then, they were gone. Every time the burden of the engine moved down a family member, said family member died.

The oil and gas industry was huge today, made a lot of money, and cost the public a lot of money. If people knew that there was a way to not pay for oil and gas to fuel their cars, that industry would be demolished, squashed as flat as a bug under a tire, no pun intended.

So, being the selfish, money-crazed idiots they were, the government had decided to ruin our making the engine in spite of what it could do for the world by killing everyone involved, hoping to get their grimy little hands on the engine's design.

It finally made sense. Why no one had noticed that two people were in a house, dead. The government had probably dragged them away and erased signs of murder. The camera flash I had seen last night. How long had they been watching me? Suspicious deaths. What the heck did it take to hit an old man on the back of the head, three old men, to be precise, and make it look like the person fell down the stairs or something?!

"Looks like you did my job for me," someone muttered through the rain behind me. I snapped my head around, only to see the guy that had been causing havoc with a gun in the crown of high school students. Said gun could now put a bullet in my head if I flinched ever so slightly. It's a terrible feeling, just the instance you realize that each second ticking by could be your last.

I shook violently. This feeling wasn't healthy. I was frozen in the spot with fear. I heard sirens in the distance. Vaguely. In the hazy mist left by the rain, I observed for the first time, the houses surrounding me. They were so…cozy looking. That was conifer – nothing exciting ever happened here. And yet, even when my life was going perfect, something like this happened.

Then, I realized that September was almost over. How had this month gone so quickly? I wished it had never begun. I'd been lying to myself. My life wasn't perfect. My parents had just died, for god's sake! How the hell could I have been so stupid?

"I won't kill you if you just set the paper on the ground."

I did as he said. I couldn't think clearly from blinding fear, and even though I knew he would kill me anyway, I wanted as much time left as I could get. The man picked up the papers and deposited them in his jacket pocket.

He advanced upon me. Gun held to my head, the man whispered softly in my ear.

"You have no idea what I could do to you right now. Consider yourself lucky I'm just killing you." The click of a gun, a different one, echoed through the night air.

"You ever told yourself that?"

Then, everything was silence.

The kind of silence that comes after a gunshot.

Somehow, I already knew.

When I turned around, Bryan was there, hair stuck to his face from the rain. His face was almost unrecognizable. I could tell there was pain in his eyes, though. He had just killed someone. For good causes, but killed all the same. He would probably never live this down. A pool of blood mixed with the puddles forming on the ground, trickling from the bullet-hole in the man's head. Bryan almost collapsed.

We helped each other walk away from the man lying on the ground, and all of the memories I had once held, all the sadness. As we made our way through the trees, I noticed that there were about ten police cars lined up on the dirt road surrounding my temporary home. As soon as someone saw us, everyone came rushing over. They asked us questions, wanted to know what happened, as the police backed them away, trying to give us space. Then, they ushered us into a police car and sped away.

Once down at the station, a man with a kind face in a navy-blue sheriff's uniform asked me to tell him what happened. And I did. I let out everything that had happened and everything that I had been feeling to this complete stranger, with Bryan, his face bewildered and shocked, sitting right next to me. There was no point in hiding it anymore.

"So, why do you think you didn't tell anyone?" Bryan asked me, as I walked with him to school the next day.

"I suppose it was denial." He almost cracked up. "No, seriously!" I exclaimed, almost laughing myself. It was amazing how comfortable I was talking about this with Bryan. "I didn't want to believe my parents were dead, so I lied. I figured that telling people would confirm the truth, that they were really gone. I didn't want my life to change, and I knew it would if people knew. Once I told people, I would be reminded of the truth every day, and it would be that much harder to live with. My life would never be the same. I wanted to live comfortably for as long as I could." Bryan smiled.

"You sound like me when my parents got divorced."

"You know I was just thinking that?"

"You are so brave."

"Huh?"

"Well, think about it. You had the courage to live on your own, with no help from anyone. You dealt with the pain on your own: no one else knew. And on top of that, not once did I see you cry." Tears leaked out of my eyes. Bryan looked at me, and smiled sadly and lovingly. His hair swayed in the breeze. For the first time in my life, he held my hand, looking up at the October sky.

The End.


End file.
